17
Nov
Estate agent licence introduced to raise property market standards
An estate
agent licence has been introduced to protect buyers and sellers
and raise the standards of the property market.
The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has launched the
licence at the House of Commons, which will mean that at least one
estate
agent within each licensed branch will have qualifications in
residential property sales.
It stated that at the moment there are no requirements for estate
agents to be qualified, meaning people putting their properties for
sale or trying to buy a house could be using ones that do not have
a lot of experience in the industry.
Chief executive of the NAEA Peter Bolton King said: "Nobody would
knowingly get into an unlicensed taxi. However, thousands of people
are willing to entrust one of most important transactions of their
life to people who are not qualified or experienced."
Housing minister Grant Shapps encouraged estate agents to sign up,
saying that it will help provide positive results for the housing
market.
Last week, the NAEA reported that during October 2010, sales made
to first-time buyers rose from 20 per cent to 23 per cent,
indicating that the property industry is already starting to show
signs of improvement.